Choosing a Commander
Your commander determines your colors and shapes your strategy. It's the one card you have access to every game, so the choice matters more than any other slot in the deck.
What makes a card a commander
Any legendary creature can be your commander. Some planeswalkers have text that explicitly says they can be your commander — those work too. That's it. No other card types qualify unless they say so.
There are over 2,500 legal commanders, so the hard part is narrowing it down.
Three questions to find yours
1. What colors do you want to play?
Each color in Magic does different things well. Your commander's color identity locks you into those colors for the entire deck.
- White — removal, lifegain, tokens, board wipes, rules enforcement
- Blue — card draw, counterspells, control, copying, extra turns
- Black — tutors, reanimation, sacrifice, life-as-resource, removal
- Red — damage, haste, impulse draw, artifact destruction, chaos
- Green — ramp, big creatures, land synergies, enchantment/artifact removal
Multi-color commanders open up more options but demand better mana bases. Mono-color is simpler to build and more consistent to cast.
Don't overthink this. If you like drawing cards and saying "no," play blue. If you like turning creatures sideways, play green or red. Your gut is usually right.
2. What do you want your deck to do?
Not "win." What do you want the games to feel like?
- Make a massive army of tokens and crash in? → Tokens
- Slowly grind everyone out with value? → Midrange or Control
- Assemble a disgusting engine that does things your opponents can't track? → Combo or Aristocrats
- Strap a bunch of swords to one creature and murder people? → Voltron
- Cast spell after spell in one explosive turn? → Spellslinger or Storm
Your answer here points you to an archetype. Your archetype points you to specific commanders.
3. Does this commander do something or just sit there?
The Command Zone podcast (Episode 658) breaks commanders into three categories:
Enablers make your strategy possible. Your deck doesn't function without them on the battlefield. Examples: Meren of Clan Nel Toth, Prossh, Skyraider of Kher.
Payoffs reward you for doing what your deck already wants to do. Your deck functions without them, but they close games. Examples: Purphoros, God of the Forge; Korvold, Fae-Cursed King.
Enhancers make a strategy better but aren't essential. The deck operates fine if they stay in the command zone all game. Examples: Tymna the Weaver, Kenrith, the Returned King.
Enabler commanders need protection. If your deck falls apart without your commander, plan for the command tax and run cards like Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots.
Payoff and enhancer commanders are more forgiving. You cast them when the board state is right, not as a prerequisite.
Partners and Backgrounds
Some commanders have Partner, which lets you run two commanders instead of one. Your deck's color identity is the combined identity of both. This gives you access to more colors and more flexibility, at the cost of splitting your command zone focus.
Partner with is a restricted version — the card specifies which other card it can partner with.
Choose a Background is similar to partner but limited to specific commander/enchantment pairs from the Baldur's Gate set.
Partners are powerful but add complexity. For a first deck, one commander is plenty.
Where to browse
You can search for commanders right here. Filter by color identity, type, or just browse and see what catches your eye.
EDHREC shows the most popular commanders and what people put in those decks. It's the go-to for "I have a commander, now what?"
One piece of advice
Pick the commander where you read the text box and immediately start thinking about what cards go in the deck. Competitive viability matters less than you think. The commander you're excited about is the one you'll actually finish building.